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| Southeast Asia |
| Bashir, Osama 'in cave meeting' |
| 2004-12-21 |
| EXTREMIST cleric Abu Bakar Bashir told a key Jemaah Islamiah operative that he had visited Osama bin Laden in his cave hideout in Afghanistan, a Jakarta court heard yesterday. In the first evidence of a direct link between the two men, the key prosecution witness, Nasir Abbas, told the court he had been with Bashir at a passing-out ceremony at a JI training camp in the southern Philippines, an event that is a central plank in the prosecution's case against Bashir. Abbas said he complained to Bashir about living conditions in the camp, where Bashir was visiting for 2-3 days to witness the graduation of 17 operatives at a camp in Mindanao. Bashir was not sympathetic. "He told me that on his trip to Afghanistan he met with Osama bin Laden," Abbas said, and then quoted Bashir saying: "We should be thankful because they live in a cave with minimal facilities and we are more comfortable." The brother-in-law of Bali bombing mastermind Mukhlas and a one-time senior Jemaah Islamiah operative, Abbas has apparently cut a deal with the police, and he has been seen around Jakarta accompanied by an armed escort. His damning testimony plunged the court into chaos yesterday, as one defence lawyer was overtaken with emotion, shouting and gesturing, and 300 or so of Bashir's extremist supporters yelled and flung their fists in the air. Finally, the microphones were turned off and Abbas was hustled out by police through a rear exit in the makeshift court in the Agriculture Department auditorium in south Jakarta as the trial's five judges fled the fighting. Abbas earlier had told the panel of judges that Bashir inspected four lines of graduates at the ceremony at Hudaibiyah camp in The Philippines. Abbas and another operative, Mustofa, flanked the cleric, and the trio were followed by two guards, Abbas explained. "And then we had a demonstration of fighting and bombs," he added. "Bashir headed Jemaah Islamiah. He gave a speech in front of the students, and stayed there for two or three days," Abbas said. Abbas, then an instructor at the camp after fighting in Afghanistan with the anti-Soviet mujaheddin, said Bashir told the recruits the military training was necessary. "It is part of the jihad. This is good," he said, according to Abbas. Many of the earlier witnesses in the trial of the accused cleric have failed to provide effective testimony, with a number alleging they had forgotten events, did not know of Jemaah Islamiah and had no idea whether Bashir was a JI leader. One other witness, in an earlier hearing, testified that he too had seen Bashir at the training camp in The Philippines, accompanied by Abbas. The preacher has been accused of inciting terrorism in relation to last year's bombing at Jakarta's Marriott Hotel, which killed 12, and on lesser charges in connection with the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. Two jailed Bali bombers scheduled to appear yesterday, Mubarok and Ali Imron, sent a letter to the court saying they would not attend since they had given evidence at Bashir's trial last year. Another jailed Islamic militant, Mohammad Rais, told the court in an earlier hearing that he conveyed a message from al-Qaeda leader bin Laden to Bashir in 2001, inviting the cleric to Afghanistan if he felt uncomfortable in Indonesia. Bashir, 66, has flatly denied any involvement in terrorism, denies JI even exists and has denied he went to The Philippines in 2000, as the prosecution alleges. |
| Posted by:tipper |